Visions
by ohsowhelmed
Summary: Wolverine has fixed the other future, and now everything is good again. But what will happen when the women who sent Wolverine back started getting visions of what once was, especially a relationship with a certain ice manipulating young man?
1. Chapter 1

_Don't own X Men._

* * *

_Kitty ran. She ran and ran and ran and didn't look back, knowing that if she did, she would run back to everyone. Then their sacrifices would be for nothing. It was hard, not looking back at the people who had became her family. Bobby, her husband. Magneto, her former enemy. Piotr, her old flame, and more. Elle, her close friend. Sentinels had once again crashed their quiet and peaceful time together, and they were now sacrificing their lives so she could send someone back in time to stop this. Kitty will not fail them. Never._

_She will save them all, protect them all, just like they were protecting her now._

_ They will get to see each other again, and she will get to be held in her Bobby's arms again. She just had to run, and not look back._

_Kitty grabbed onto Bishop, who was waiting for her. _

_"Come on," she shouted. "I have to send you back." _

Kitty flew up from her bed and groaned. Not _again._ Ever since Wolverine told them about how he came back to the past to prevent that horrible future, she's been having these nightmares of the things she wasn't supposed to remember. It was always the same. Sentinels attacking, and the others risking their life so that she could send someone back in time to stop the attacks. She saw her comrades, her friends, her_ family_ sacrifice themselves repeatedly to try and give her enough time to send someone back. Some, she recognized. Others, not so much.

But... to her that wasn't all. In the future that Wolverine had prevented, she had married Bobby. Not officially, but a marriage all the same. They had loved each other, and relied on each others' strength in the darkest situation. But now that Wolverine had fixed that future, Bobby was still with Rogue and she was alone. That, perhaps, was the worst part, knowing that she and Bobby had a future together, but now could never have one. She wasn't going to destroy a perfect relationship. Rogue and Bobby were happy, and she wasn't a home wrecker.

Kitty sighed, and slid out of bed, careful to not wake anyone up. She bundled herself up, and headed outside. Kitty has been isolating herself from everyone, and they were slowly started to take notice. First Bobby, then Jean, then the rest of the school. Especially Bobby. She couldn't stand being near him, being so close, and remember what they once had. She climbed onto a tree, and phased into it. It was easier to stay phased. It gave the illusion that nothing could touch her. Not Bobby, not all the emotions, nothing. She was exhausted but was too afraid to fall asleep and have a vision come to her.

She tried to convince herself to stop falling for the visions, that she and Bobby lost their chance. That they never even had a chance.

Kitty started when she felt her phone vibrate. She pulled it out, and looked at it. She first noted that it was six, the time that the teachers normally woke up at. Somehow, an hour had passed while she mulled over this vision. Second, Bobby was calling her. She pressed on the decline button and slid the phone back into her pocket. Bobby still didn't understand why Kitty was ignoring him. He didn't see the visions she saw, didn't get to see the closeness between them, didn't feel their love for each other. Kitty sighed and leaned backed on the trunk before noticing that it had chilled considerably since she came out. She jumped off the branch before realizing her brain must be really slow and messed up from the lack of sleep because A) air couldn't cool off that quickly, and B) the ground had turned into ice. It was too late to stop herself, and her feet hit the ground before sliding back, hitting someone else, and knocking them over.

"Bobby!" She yelled. Sure enough, under her was a sheepish but determined looking blond, grinning up at her. She let out multiple profanities and scrambled off of him.

"Sorry, I wanted you to come down and talk to me." He said, getting up from the ground.

"I don't want to talk to you." Kitty said staring at her feet, the leaves, anything but Bobby.

"Why not? You never had this problem with talking to me before. In fact, you seemed to like talking to me." He pointed out, sounding hurt. More than anything, Kitty wanted to hug him, and spill everything out. Instead, she started examining a leaf and said "What's there to talk about?"

"Why you aren't talking to anyone."

"That is my business, and my business alone. So back off, and tell the others to as well. I'm fine." She spat out.

"Kitty." He murmured, placing his hand on her cheek. She instantly swiped it off, ignoring the hurt look that appeared on Bobby's face.

"I'm your best friend," He started again.

"Were." She cut in. "You were my best friend."

"-and I know as a fact that you are not okay." He continued, ignoring Kitty's previous words.

"I'm FINE!" She shouted, shocking herself and Bobby. "Just leave me alone." She started walking away. Bobby growled from behind her.

"Kitty, what the hell did I do? I don't know what I did to make you so angry at me! Come on, please tell me what I did wrong. Anything but continuing to push us away!"

Kitty restrained herself from turning and looking at him, knowing it would all come pouring out if she did. To keep it pouring out that they had loved each other more than anything in the world. To keep it from coming out that she did love him.

"Nothing's wrong Bobby, just drop it." She said in a resigned tone and started walking to the school.

"Kitty, why won't you talk to me?" He demanded. " I don't remember doing anything bad to you and-"

"That's the whole darn point!" She snarled. "You _can't_ remember! Only one person will, only one person should, and only one person can. Yet here I am with nightmares of what once was! Yes, I helped create this future by sending Logan back, and yes, its a better future than the other one, but I _don't want these nightmares_! They keep showing some things I want, things that would never happen!"

Bobby was stunned silent during her outburst. She knew she shouldn't have revealed that much, but she just couldn't keep it inside her anymore.

"Kitty..." Bobby said softly and reached for her.

"Just- just leave me alone Bobby, please." She said, moving out of his reach.

Kitty only let out the tears once she locked her door. She was tired. Tired of the visions that she couldn't make a sense of, tired of having to watch Bobby and Marie and knowing that she and Bobby were once closer than that, tired of being constantly badgered. She just wanted things to go back the way they were. When she could actually look at things and didn't get reminded of something that didn't exist.

* * *

"She didn't not telling me why." Bobby frowned as he talked to Scott, Logan, Jean, Marie, and Ororo, as well as Charles. "I don't think she's planning on telling anyone. She made sure to emphasize that she especially didn't want to talk to me."

Jean winced. "She's in pain. I could feel it from here and it's giving me a headache." A massive headache to be exact. She looked at Xavier. "Can't you take a peek into her mind and see what's going on?"

"I could," Charles leaned forward and frowned. "I could take a peek, as you call it, but not without her consent. And that, I believe, is one thing we don't have."

"I don't get it." Scott spoke up, also frowning. "Kitty's never done anything like this before. She's never done anything this drastic."

"Well, she did mention something interesting that might help us figure this out." They all looked at Bobby. "Kitty was the one who sent Wolverine to the past, right? When I talked to her, she let it slip that there was only one person who should remember, but instead she was having memories of things that didn't exist. So, maybe she remembers the other future, and that's what is causing this."  
Logan shrugged. "That still shouldn't effect her as much. In fact, it shouldn't cause her to distance herself like this. It should make her become closer with us."

"But there is one thing that could cause this distancing." Charles spoke up again. He looked at Logan and nodded significantly at Bobby and Rogue. More specifically, nodded at Bobby. Logan groaned and rubbed his temples.

"Oh, she remembers that."

"You did mention how close they were."

"What do you mean?" Marie finally spoke up. "How close who were?"

Charles only hesitated for a moment.

"How close Kitty _really_ was with Bobby." The reaction was immediate. Marie looked plain furious, Bobby looked stunned, and so did Ororo, Scott, and Jean.

"So that's what she meant." Bobby muttered softly, forgetting that Marie was right next to him.

"What do you mean?" Marie snapped.

"She had mentioned something else to me that I had found very strange. She said that the visions showed her something she wanted, something that would never happen. I had been confused, because Wolverine mentioned that the other timeline was a nightmare." Bobby turned towards Wolverine. "In that other timeline, Kitty and I... we were dating weren't we?" Rogue inhaled sharply after Bobby finished talking. Her grip on Bobby tightened, and a scowl was making a way onto her face. Wolverine smirked.

"Oh no. Not dating." Rogue let out a relieved sigh.

"You two were married."

* * *

A/N: This might sound similar to other stories but I swear, this will be different. This is my first story here, and I hope it will be good. I'll should be able to update soon, seeing how I'm on break from school.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey everyone! Anyways, I'd like to take this moment to say I don't own Xmen nor anyone in it._

* * *

_Kitty snuggled even further into Bobby's arms. A soft chuckle came out from the blonde who was finally hers after so many years, and Kitty grinned. She absorbed the sound, clung onto it like a lifeline. Here, in this world of horrible things, one thing hasn't changed. Bobby's laughter had remained the same, while the rest of the world didn't. It still brought warmth rushing all the way to her core._  
_"Someone's awful clingy." He murmered into her ear._

_"Just trying to take in every spare moment we're together before the sentinels come and ruin it again." She grinned up at him, but her eyes were serious. It was true. Everytime it seems like they could finally catch a breath, be together, sentinels interrupt. Before they would have at least a week or so before Sentinels found them, now they've clearly been upgraded. They've been finding them quicker and quicker as time goes._

_"Yes," He sighed. "This is truly a cruel world. I'm starting to think that sentinels purposely attack when we are trying to get some quality time together. Think they're jealous?" He smirked down at his precious wife, trying to cheer her up for the moment. Kitty smiled. Even in the most dire situations, he was always trying to make her laugh. He gently kissed her._

_"Go to sleep, I'll wake you up if there is trouble." Bobby murmered. Kitty agreed with him. As her eyes slowly drifted close, she suddenly heard Bishop yell, followed by blasts and screaming. Well she knew what that means._

_"Well, no need to wake me up anymore. They're here, and their timing keeps on worsening." Kitty snarled, no longer tired. "Come on, I have to send you back." Before she could drag him to the woods, he rested his forehead onto hers for a moment. Then they ran, searching for a place where she could sent him back in time to stop this attack. This time, she looked back._

* * *

Kitty woke up feeling like she just ran for hours. She was drenched in sweat, and her heart was beating furiously. She got up, and started to get ready to go out to her tree again, to ponder this vision. As usual, the vision was horribly vivid. She could almost smell Bobby's scent, feel the texture of his shirt, feel the love they had for each other. It made her feel sick. Her stomach turned, and her misery threatened to crush her. To top that all off, she had a massive headache from the visions. It was bad enough that the visions caused this much emotional pain, but they also gave massive headaches. This one was different though. This one didn't start with a goodbye, this one started with a scene with Bobby. A romantic scene. It made her feel sick. She headed to the bathroom, and leaned over the toilet, releasing whatever contents were left in her stomach. Kitty stayed leaned over, breathing hard. She closed her eyes and started taking calming breaths.

_You're losing grip_, she thought. _You're losing grip and everyone is noticing. Pull yourself together, you're Kitty Pryde, you don't lose it. You leave that to Jubilee. _Her eyes flash opened and she continued as if nothing happened. Time to have a heart to heart with her favorite tree.

Bobby Drake laid in bed next to sleeping Marie as he thought about the new revelation. _Married_. Him and Kitty. _Married_.

Married.

Married.

Married.

Married.

The words echoed in his head over and over again.

Marie had started freaking out when she had heard the news, and it had taken him hours to finally calm her down. Then came the personal struggle. He and Kitty were MARRIED. Not dating, not close friends, but married. He couldn't wrap his mind around that. Sure, he'll admit it. Kitty was pretty and he would most definitely date her if he wasn't already dating Marie. But married? Bobby sighed for a moment and decided to get up for some ice cream. Ice cream did always help him after all. Bobby was closing the freezer when he saw Kitty walk into the kitchen, not noticing him yet. She grabbed an apple and finally noticed Bobby. She seemed to be contemplating on whether or not she was going to bolt when Wolverine walked in as well.

"Let's take a walk, _sweetheart_." Kitty didn't like the tone Wolverine used when he said sweetheart. Sweetheart was what he called her in the other timeline, but the way he used it now, it was mocking. It was mocking her, and not at all the way he had said in the other timeline.

"Already took one, thank you." Bobby stifled his laughter, not wanting to ruin the moment.

"Fine, lets talk here." Wolverine knew what he was going to do was going to tick off the young women. Didn't mean he was going to stop though. Besides, he liked living life on the wild side. "Bobby knows what's wrong, he knows about that future timeline that you're not telling him about. We all do. He knows you two get married, you two loved each other. But that's not what I care about knowing. So tell me, what do you remember? Do you remember how everyone ran around sacrificing themselves just so you could send someone back in time? So that they could stop one attack only to have to risk their life again? For you? Why are you throwing such a fit over some love, when the things that should really make you upset mean nothing to you." Bobby watched as Kitty clenched her fist. For a brief second, he thought that Kitty was going to attack Wolverine. He relaxed when he saw Kitty sidestep Wolverine and walk off.

"What the heck were you thinking!" Bobby exploded, once he was certain that Kitty was out of hearing range. "Are you really that dense?" Wolverine tensed up and glared at him. Bobby knew he should probably stop, but right now he didn't care.


	3. Chapter 3

Marie jolted awake when she heard the loud shouting voices at five in the damn morning. Turning over, she frowned when she found that Bobby wasn't lying beside her. Rolling off, she took a brief glance at the mirror to make sure she was presentable before storming off towards the kitchen. Whoever woke her up was going to pay.

A smiled curled at the edge of her lips as she gave a brief glance at her hands.

"What's the rack- Bobby? Logan?" Sure enough in front of her, both looking murderous, were the mutants dubbed Wolverine and Iceman. They didn't even turn and look at her, both intently imagining themselves mauling the other. Marie had a feeling Bobby would not be on the winning side for this one.

Rolling her eyes, she rushed between them and tried getting Bobby's attention. No such luck, Bobby was still glaring at Wolverine.

"Look at me Bobby!" She finally gave up and just yelled at him. To Marie's surprise, Bobby actually turned towards her. With out missing a beat, she dragged him towards Xavier's office, reaching her other hand out and snatching at Logan's wrist. Scott and Ororo, talking quietly to the Professor by his desk, looked up in surprise.

"What brings you three here?" Scott asked, as he and Ororo straightened.

"Wolverine straight out confronted Kitty in the _dumbest_ way possible!" Bobby snarled. Marie was surprised by the ferocity in Bobby's voice. She has never seen Bobby angry like this before.

"Hey, you have a better way of talking to her?" Wolverine snarled back.

"Yeah, it's called _not mentioning that everyone sacrificed their life so she could send someone back in time_!" Everyone looked at Wolverine in shock.

"You did_ what_?" Ororo finally spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Ok, ok, I went a bit too far. It was a mistake!"

"A _mistake?_" Bobby was furious. They had went over countless of times that they were going to approach Kitty slowly and then Wolverine came along and tossed that plan out the window._ "Do you know how much weight that would add to her already heavy conscience?"_

"Hey it wasn't that bad!"

"She was ready to attack you, what do you mean it wasn't that bad?"

"Enough." Charles said calmly. "This is what we do..."

* * *

_'Kitty, Bobby, and Ororo, please come to the Cerebro chamber.' _Kitty groaned, rolled off her bed, and made her way to Xavier's office. She still wasn't over what Wolverine had said. The way he made her seem so... selfish.

She didn't like to think that maybe she was.

She was thankful that Xavier hadn't called Wolverine down as well. Hopefully he wasn't already there. Kitty walked into the Cerebro chamber and saw that the other two were already there as well as Wolverine. Joy.

"Professor, what's going on?" Bobby spoke up.

"Cerebro has located a mutant in Juneau, Alaska."

"Alaska? Well there's a place we haven't been to yet."

"Here is the information we have gathered about this mutant." Xavier pulled up an image. "Her name is Ellen Adams." Xavier continued talking but Kitty stopped listening. The short pink hair... it looked so familiar. She had seen this girl in her visions!

"Lightning!" She bursted out excitedly. She turned to Wolverine, the earlier morning accident forgotten.

"Remember her? Elle? The one who could shoot out pink lightning?" Wolverine stared at her for a minute before his face too showed recognition.

"Well, it appears you two recognize her. In the alternate timeline, how advanced did her powers become? We can use this knowledge to know what to help her develop her powers to." Charles said. Bobby was looking at Kitty in wonder. Kitty had just admitted what they just recently knew. She did have the memories of the other timeline. He mulled over this revelation for bit then turned to Wolverine when he started talking.

"Lightni- Elle's powers mainly revolved around electricity. She generally shot out lightning, but she could also absorb electricity from storms or machines, and redirect it as lightning, or as energy. She and 'Roro were the dream team. I thin-"

"Ok, this is lovely and everything, but perhaps we should recruit her first, then talk about her arrangements." Kitty abruptly cut in. To be honest, she was in between the lines of excitement and nervousness. Excitement, because she and Elle were close in the alternate timeline, and nervous because this wasn't the other timeline so she wasn't sure how to act.

Elle wasn't going to be the same and she couldn't just walk up to her and start talking, because that would confuse her. This was so frustrating. She was really thinking that the world hated her, because first it was Bobby and now it's Elle.

Kitty Pryde was trying really hard to avoid the cyrokinectic sitting in the Blackbird right next to her. Storm and the professor were up by the controls, and left her alone with Bobby.

She refused to believe that this was a coincidence.

She knew Bobby was looking at her, wanting an explanation about the whole Elle situation. She just didn't want to explain yet. Instead she chose to close her eyes and think about Elle.

In the other timeline, she had met Elle at one of the camps. She was one of the reasons why Kitty didn't go crazy. Elle was a sarcastic girl who was a great source of entertainment with her snide remarks. It was refreshing, and reminded her of the kids back at the mansion.

"We're here," she heard Storm say. Kitty immediately straightened up and get ready for the Blackbird to land.

* * *

Ellen Adams, or Elle as she prefers, stared up from the tree that she was sitting on. She prefered spending most of her time after school and homework in the forest, loving the peaceful tranquility.

But that's not why she was in the forest today. Today she waited patiently for Professor Xavier to come, as she knew he would when she finally went out to test her powers. It had taken her awhile to believe she was ready.

Elle was going to send out that spark earlier... but then the dreams arrived.

Not dreams. Too... _real _to be dreams.

Recollections.

Memories.

_Visions._

She saw herself using her powers to fight these machines? androids? called Sentinels along with other mutants. She saw herself fighting others to give that girl, Kitty, some extra time. She saw herself fighting with a group of friends for survival. Though the rest of the world hunted them down, she felt accepted.

Even though it was a terrible world, Elle wasn't sure if she would've minded feeling like she belonged, for once.

Elle jolted out of her thinking when she sensed a jet coming, the one she felt in her visions, the one she saw on a rare few occasions. She nervously smiled and headed towards the place she knew they would land. Time to have a chat with some fellow mutants.


	4. Chapter 4

Ororo, Bobby, Kitty, and Charles were startled when they saw a girl sitting on a tree branch seeming to be waiting for them.

Charles wheeled forward immediately, taking lead.

"Hello, I'm Charles Xavier, this is Ororo, Bobby, and Kitty. You must be Ellen Adams." Each stepped forward as their name was called.

"Call me Elle," she said quietly, observing them.

A brief silence occurred as the girl stared.

"You all kind of look the same way you do in my dreams." She said abruptly.

"Wait, dreams?" Bobby asked. Elle turned her gaze onto him. He didn't have that beard that he had in her visions, only some scruff. She decided she liked this look much better.

She frowned.

"Well, yeah. Weird dreams. They're too... well this might sound weird, but, realistic, to be considered dreams. Do I sound crazy? Is it... normal for that to happen? And, what are sentinels? Where's Wolverine? I saw him? Where's everything else? What do these dreams even mean? Are they tricks? Oh and a word of advice, don't grow a beard. You look much better this way." Elle jumped from question to question, words pouring out of her mouth.

Xavier held his hand up. "First, take us back to your parents. I'll explain to you what's going on, and then I promise that any question you have will be answered to the best of our ability." Elle nodded and started walking towards her home, to have her parents meet them. Her parents were often busy working, but they stayed behind today to talk to the newest school offer. She paused when she realized that no one was following her.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Some awesome theme song to move this along? A commercial break?" Elle snapped, before clapping her hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to sound crass. Elle had planned to try and be polite.

"Well there's your sarcastic personality. I was beginning to think that when Logan changed the timeline, he changed your personality." Kitty chuckled, but still none of them moved. Elle stared at her in interest. It would appear that Kitty knew some information about the content of her dreams. Elle jotted down a mental note to grill the girl later on all information she had, before rolling her eyes at the group's paranoia.

"We're just going to my house to meet my parents. I'm not leading you all to a trap or kidnapping you, promise," she said, hurt that they really thought she was a threat. Turning around, she walked away, resisting the urge to look back and see if they were following her.

Elle and Bobby just stared at Elle's back for a moment before also heading up, leaving Storm and the professor back there. Storm immediately spoke up.

"I'm not sure if Bobby noticed, but Kitty just laughed. She laughed, she smiled, and she talked. Am I the only one seeing the difference between today and yesterday?"

"Yes it would appear that having Elle would become a very helpful indeed." Charles said as they too started towards where Elle was walking towards as well.

* * *

The return trip was all about bonding with the newest recruit. Elle shredded everything she could out of Kitty, drinking up all the information she could.

"So... You also have visions? I'm not the only one?" Kitty nodded, a little uncomfortable.

Elle nearly cried.

"Wow. You have no idea what this means to me... for months I thought I was going crazy or something. I couldn't understand why I suddenly started dreaming of all these random people, random scenes. To know that I'm not the only one, that I'm not going off the deep end... thank you," Elle said, gratefully. Kitty only smiled, touched.

Elle tried to change the topic.

"So, are you and Bobby together?" Kitty's face immediately fell, and Elle's face grew panicked as she realized this may have not been the smartest thing to ask. Elle tentatively reached out to wrap her arms around the girl, weary that she would get slapped or something like that.

"I'm sorry, that was really out of line. I just..." Behind her, Bobby chuckled.

"It's alright, we're just friends. How about you go take a look around this jet, I bet you're dying to. I know I certainly was when I hopped onto the crew." Elle's face lit up.

"Well, it you don't mind... I have been dying to sneak a peak around..." Her voice trailed off. "Is it allowed?"

Bobby nodded, waving her away. Ellle nearly ran out of the room, partly in eagerness, partly so she didn't mess something up again.

Kitty wanted to beg her to stay, and not leave her alone with Bobby.

"So... were you close friends with Elle in your visions?" She stared at Bobby, startled that he talked. Kitty knew she should shut him out to keep her heart intact, but she couldn't bring herself to be mean while she was still comprehending the information Elle gave her.

"Um, yeah we were pretty good friends." She smiled slightly at Bobby. He was taken aback for a bit before shyly grinning back his beautiful smile. She loved his smile. It was always bright and happy, playful yet made you feel secure.

Marie was the luckiest woman in the world for having Bobby as her boyfriend.

Kitty decided to just give herself this moment with Bobby before she went back to closing herself off. After all, what was the harm? Only a few moments.

Slowly they went back to the two playful bantering friends they used to be. The ones who could always count on the other to cheer them up when they felt down.

The two started unconsciously inching closer together as they bickered about every topic under the sun, and the sparkle slowly reappeared in Kitty's eyes.

With out realizing it, the pair have now moved quite close to each other, almost too much for comfort.

Kitty was the first to realize this, and immediately froze up. Bobby soon realized this as well when he turn his head towards her and realized how _close_ the two were. He too, froze up. Kitty abruptly got up and started moving back to her seat while stayed at his seat, staring at her. She can practically feel his beautiful blue eyes burning into her back and couldn't resist turning back to look at them. When she did, she almost regretted it. All the playfulness had seeped out, and now his eyes were so... intense. So serious, so piercing. She found herself completely enraptured by them. The words that were bubbling up completely disappeared. The rest of the jet disappeared. Everyone, everything disappeared until it was just her and those beautiful eyes.

"I..." She said, trying to pull herself out of the trance that his eyes were putting her into. She tore her eyes away and started heading back to her seat, refusing to look back at him again. Or rather, that's what she wanted. Instead, the jet tipped sideways, sending her back, and into Bobby's arms.

"Whoops, sorry turbulence!" She heard Elle snicker up at the conrols, the sarcasm in her voice so prominent that a person from the 1800s could tell she didn't mean it. Kitty growled and started struggling to get out until she realized the Bobby made no move to let her go. She immediately turned to Bobby to demand that he let her go before realizing her mistake. The look in Bobby's eyes hasn't changed, and Kitty's knees became too weak to support herself.

"You really shouldn't meddle." Professor X said to Elle. "Bobby is currently in a serious relationship with someone else at our school." Elle grinned.

"Why professor, what are you talking about? It's just some chit chat between two friends." Elle said, innocently. "I'm sure nothing serious will happen." She paused.

"So could you explain this "alternate universe" thing to me again? I'm not quite sure I understand..."

Kitty Pryde avoided Bobby like a plague the minute that they landed. Instead she chose to help Elle get settled in than to focus on his beautiful blue eyes that were so intense, and that amazing smile of his and... Kitty immediately shook her head roughly. She was so wrong earlier. There was a lot of harm in those few moments. She would not let herself make that mistake again. She had foolishly forgotten how truly enticing he was, how much like a drug he was, how he always left her craving for more time with him. No, she will not make this mistake again.


	5. Chapter 5

Don't own X Men.

* * *

Bobby watched with a sinking heart as Kitty once again ignored his wave. Instead, she chose to sit closest to the exit, farthest from him and Marie. Next to her was Elle, who had been slowly bonding with Kitty and the rest of the students. She really was a mischievous one, though she seemed unsure of her limits.

Kitty still ignored Bobby with a passion though. He had ecstatic on the Blackbird when she had opened herself up briefly, and even seemed to return to her old self. They had been friends again for a short few minutes. Too short, but it also made him realize a few scary and shocking things. For one, he had missed her so much, more than he had missed Marie when she ran off to get the cure. Two, on the Blackbird, he had wanted to _kiss her_. Kitty looked so beautiful, and the way her beautiful brown eyes had burned into his own, the way her pale pink lips had parted, the way she had laughed and smiled at him that made him feel warm inside. That was a feeling he had never felt near Marie.

_Marie_. His gaze shifted over to the girl sitting next to him. He didn't know what he felt about her anymore. He thought he loved her, but then he felt things around Kitty that he has never felt around Marie. Marie's touch never made him feel the things that Kitty's touch does. Marie's smile never gives him butterflies the way that Kitty's did. Marie's laugh never made him feel like laughing along and the need to hear it more the way Kitty's does. Rogue had always complained to him. She never bothered to listened to his troubles. Kitty had. In fact, whenever he had an issue, no matter how small, she was there to listen and to comfort him. Kitty knew him better than Marie did, and Bobby knew Kitty better than he knew Marie.

In fact, the two probably knew each other better than anyone one else. She had been there for him when Bobby finally caught on the horror that he might have just killed his ex best friend, and he was there for her when she was grieving over her dead father. Until recently, if something horrible happened to either of them, you could bet that the first person they would go to is each other.

He also knew that while Marie was upset about Kitty being depressive, she was secretly glad that it meant Kitty was distancing herself from Bobby because she was getting jealous of Kitty. Bobby did not like that at all.

Kitty or Marie?

Bobby didn't know.

* * *

Kitty Pryde tried to listen to the assembly. She really did. But it was just going over rules she already knew, and she was already tired as heck. Though she really tried to keep her eyes open, they soon glazed over, and then slid close...

_Kitty slumped against a tree. Her fighting spirit was nearly gone. She just didn't have the strength to resist anymore. The sentinels were too powerful. She was beginning to think that she would be stuck in this damn camp forever. Kitty missed the old times. Back before anyone even knew about mutants, back before this wretched mutant hunting started, back before even the X Men, back to when the most she had to worry about was if she got a bad grade on a test. Hell, she missed it back then when she didn't even have mutant powers. Those days seems like a different life. Now, she could barely remember anything before grey skies, horrible living areas, sentinels, and the collar's restrictive weight on her neck, negating her powers. She was ready to give up, to just stop eating and slowly die like many had earlier. She briefly wondered if the other X-men were also stuck like this. She didn't know. She didn't want to know. Kitty didn't want to know all the mutants that she couldn't save, who had died while she got captured._

_ She has been captured for... she didn't know how long. Felt like centuries to her though. She sat there, against the tree, until she heard a voice._

_"Hello." Her eyes snapped forward and she caught sight of a petite pink haired girl. Kitty said nothing, although she was amazed that the girl had somehow snuck up onto her. Despite being sorely out of practice, she was still aware of her surroundings. There was silence, and Kitty thought that the girl had left when she felt arms wrap around her. She stared down at the arms, startled._

_"You looked like you needed a hug," was all the girl said before plopping next to her, seemingly content with the silence. Kitty spoke up first._

_"What's your name? Mine's Kitty." Common courtesy. Necessary pleasantries. Kitty honestly really didn't care all that much, couldn't allow herself herself to. Because the next day, this young girl who looked too old for her own good even though she seemed to radiate innocence, could be gone, could be dead, could be doing it for brownie points. This wouldn't be the first time a mutant did jobs for sentinels to get rewards._

_"Elle. If you don't mind my asking, what's your mutation?" She glanced at the girl, surprised. The way the gir- Elle had said it so casually, made her believe for a second that they still had mutations instead of these annoying collars. She tugged against the stupid collar, wincing as a small shock ran through the collar and into her hand._

_"Intangibility, phasing. I can walk through walls. What about you?" Kitty was truly curious. Elle seemed to be considering something when she shrugged. _

_"It mainly has to do with electricity." The two conversed after that, mainly about their powers before moving on to interests. Kitty found out that Elle had a love for learning, and they bonded over science and technology. After a bit, they moved onto their past. Elle laughed as Kitty recounted her tales of the X men and the prank wars that would follow, and Kitty listened enraptured as Elle regaled her with a story about when her mutation first popped up. She would have liked to stay there all day, but then the sentinels started herding them back to their living quarters._

_ As they did, she felt hope and life slowly start to blossom again inside of her._

Kitty woke up to someone shaking her shoulders. She looked up to see Elle, who looked at bit worried that she was doing the wrong thing. Kitty did a quick sweep of the room and let out a sigh. No one noticed her, so she didn't make any noises. That was a relief. Another relief was the fact the assembly was still going. It would have been embarrassing if everyone started walking out and noticed her sleeping.

Kitty turned back to Elle and mouthed a thank you to her. Elle nodded and relaxed, before turning back towards the Professor. Kitty did the same, and they listened to him continue talking.

"So, did you get another one? What did you see?" Elle asked her eagerly, her curiosity prominent, as they walked past the hundreds of students.

"The first time we met... in the other future of course." Elle started to say something before she looked over Kitty's shoulder. A plain devious look crawled onto her face and she pushed Kitty back. No big deal right? Wrong. She had pushed Kitty into a chest, a chest she most definitely recognized. Kitty immediately pulled herself onto her feet, blushing furiously, and turned around only to get caught into an icy blue stare.

_She was definitely going to murder Elle today. _

A/N: man I just enjoy torturing Kitty huh? First making her get clichely lost into his eyes last time, have her vow not to let that happen again, and then make it happen again! Elle is me, playing matchmaker.


	6. Chapter 6

**Yeah I don't own the X Men franchise, cinematic or anything.**

* * *

Kitty found Elle near her own room after finally escaping from Bobby. Marie (bless her soul) had pulled Bobby away. Kitty was ready to attack her when she heard Elle speak.

"Kitty?" Kitty froze, worried for Elle. The tone that Elle used was different. It was... very confused.

"Who is he?" She whispered. "Who is he and why does he make me feel... this?" She whispered, gesturing towards her heart.

Kitty walked around the younger girl, and found her staring at something, or someone. She followed her sights to a couple kissing. She focused on the boy first, and noticed he looked familiar. She racked through her memory, an-

Ah ha! She knew who he is.

"Rick Jordan, a mutant who could toss red blasts out of his hands. In the other timeline he was your - oh." She paused, faltering.

"Oh Elle." She murmured. In the other future, Rick was Elle's boyfriend.

"He was my what? Is that why I feel like I know him?" Elle asked, clearly panicked.

"He... he... well you were dating him in the past life, you know," She said, stumbling over her words. "Um..."

She knew Elle was confused. While Elle really didn't know Rick now, Kitty knew how it felt to remember the love, to remember how much closer you were to someone, and live with that knowledge. She gently opened Elle's room, and pushed her in.

"I don't know why I even care. I don't," Elle said shakingly. "I've never even met him. It's just the memories speaking. I don't even know him, but I'm seeing these memories and I don't know what to do. It doesn't matter. He doesn't matter. But he did. He did matter, once upon a time."

Kitty just nodded and they stayed in there, each female quietly lost in their own memories.

Elle didn't even know Rick. All she knows about him is that she loved him, once upon a time. But nothing, about who he is now.

Kitty didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse.

* * *

_"Pst, Kitty?" Kitty's head snapped up from where it had been resting on her arms while she was waiting for Elle. Was it her imagination or did that voice kind of sound like Bobby's?_

_"Kitty!" There. She was near certain that it was coming from beyond the fence that kept them trapped in._

_"Hey Kitty, what are you looking at?" A voice broke through her concentration of searching for the voice. She glanced at Elle only to noticed her eyes narrowed at a sight beyond the gate, an exact point in Kitty's general sweep._

_"Who's there?" was all Kitty asks. She had gotten used to Elle's mysterious almost ninja like abilities._

_"There's a blonde," Kitty's heart skipped a beat. Bobby? "and he's looking right at you." Elle paused for a bit, staring off. "Piercing blue eyes... holy crap he just turned to ice!" Yup, definitely Bobby. Elle suddenly yanked Kitty up and took off running._

_"Where are we going!" She cried. Elle didn't say anything, just turned her head around and smiled at her. Elle finally dragged her into a small corner, where the sentinels couldn't see them._

_"You can come out now." Elle calmly whispered. Soon a shape emerged._

_"Bobby!" she softly whispered as a grin broke across her face, leaning in and appraising him. Bobby had most definitely changed. His playful eyed have turned serious, and he grew a **beard**. But he was still her Bobby._

_"Kitty." He whispered back. His voice had gotten deeper too, she noted._

_"As lovely as this rendezvous is, Bobby you've got to take her soon. Sentinels will soon start getting suspicious, and when they come, they won't exactly be throwing flowers and chocolate at your feet." Bobby nodded and crossed over the fence._

_"Stay still." He said, before icing up her collar and shattering it. Kitty's eyes lit up and she tested out her power. Ahhhh, that familiar tingling. She had almost forgotten the feeling of it. Bobby stretched out his arm towards and she finally realized what was going on. Bobby was here to rescue her from this prison! She could hardly believe it. Finally, she was leaving._

_And yet... she didn't feel as happy as she thought she would. What about Elle? If Kitty made it out, surely the sentinels will connect the pieces. After all, Elle was Kitty's best friend here, naturally they would suspect her. Elle, being the stubborn creature she was, wouldn't say anything and the sentinels will most definitely try and persuade it out of her. Elle seemed to have read her mind, for she gently nudged Kitty and said," Go, I'll be fine." Kitty didn't believe her. The sentinels way of torturing was painful, terribly painful. Not that she was doubting Elle's resistance, but sentinels had the ability to reduce even the strongest person into a hot mess of tears. Elle gave Kitty a gentle smile before asking Bobby something. Kitty was too deep in thought to actually think about what it was. The only thing she did hear was Elle promising her that she'll meet up with them before pushing Kitty into Bobby._

_A few days later, they came back to camp from another day of scouting and found a most definitely not dead Elle there, sitting and waiting for them._

* * *

Kitty jolted up for a moment and was instantly in a protective stance before realizing it was just another vision. A problem with the visions though, was that they were becoming harder and harder for her to discern which were the truth and which were not. They were draining her energy, making it harder for her to think. That muddled feeling came to her again, but was pushed back from the questions that immediately popped into her mind. How had Elle escaped? Even better, how had she escaped from the "questioning" that the sentinels no doubt had readied for her? Kitty Pryde was truly confused about the mystery that was Elle.

Bobby Drake was also confused, but for a different reason. It was quite obvious to him now that he definitely loved Kitty, more than he loved Marie. No, he was confused about a different matter. How should he proceed? Breaking up with Marie should be obvious, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. No, he was too kind for that. But not telling Marie might make her react worse. Bobby truly did not know how to proceed.


	7. Chapter 7

Noope don't own X Men.

* * *

Marie has had just about enough. It was bad enough that Bobby, _her _Bobby mind you, was constantly preoccuppied on Kitty who she just found out he had been _married _to in the future, but he was ignoring her too! She was his girlfriend, not his friend, like little Miss. Kitty Pryde was. She was the one who gave up her mutation for him, she was the one who he chose to ask out, she was the one who was there for him when John left. Not Kitty. In fact, she was beginning to suspect that there wasn't even anything wrong with her, she just wanted attention! Everyone one else was just _so_ caught up on how Kitty was like this, or Kitty was like that now. They all couldn't see how utterly fake it was.

And earlier when she found her in Bobby's arms, looking ready to kiss him, she knew it had been on purpose. Thank goodness she had been there to drag Bobby away from that... that _attention seeking whore._ Bobby didn't even talk to her after, didn't apologize, or offer up any kind of reason, excuse, anything! He just locked himself up in his room, _their _room, and refused to come out.

She had to act quick, before she loses Bobby. She thought the cure would've helped, and for a brief period of time it had. Everything was perfect until... until Kitty had to get jealous and pretend to be all depressed to break them up. That's it, she was just jealous!

Marie could hardly believe her realization. How did it take so long for her to figure this out? This entire time, everyone thought there was something wrong with Kitty, they had tried to help her! But no, Kitty was only trying to earn Bobby's sympathy, to earn his pity, to tear him away Marie!

To think, it almost worked. Marie herself had been genuinely concerned too.

She had to tell Bobby immediatel- no. First, Charles. This has got to stop. Marie changed direction with an urgency in her step as she rushed towards Charles Xavier's office. The whole school had to know about this!

* * *

Bobby was having a [not so] lovely day until he was faced with a furious girlfriend marching over to him.

"Bobby!" She snapped. Bobby immediately paled. What did he do this time? He immediately started replaying the events of what occurred today in his mind.

_Kitty, classes, Kitty, work, Kitty, training, Kitty, promising to take Marie out to dinn-_

Oh.

Oh.

_Oh_.

"Oh." He said weakly. "Whoops?" Clearly that was the wrong thing to say, because Marie had blown up at him.

"Whoops? Whoops? I've been waiting for you for over an hour! Do you know how embarassing it was to be sitting there all dressed up only for the date to never show up?" Bobby would never admit it, but he basically tuned Marie out from that and focused on preserving his ears.

"I don't know what's up with you these days! You've been so terrible to me ever since- you forgot because Kitty didn't you?" His head snapped up at the mention of Kitty. 'Huh?" He should really consider taking classes on what to say to his girlfriend because what he's saying right now isn't helping. But he couldn't deny that he has been preoccupied by a certain ghostlike female mutant around here.

That last comment seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back because now Marie wasn't just yelling at him, she was cursing at him too.

"What's fucking wrong with you? You're my boyfriend! Don't you see that little _bitch_ is faking it all? Is it not obvious that the whore is pretending to get attentio-" She broke off seeing Bobby's face grow furious.

"What. Did. You. Just. Call Her." Bobby said, his voice clipped. He wasn't even asking a question, but rather daring her to respond. And Marie has officially had enough. She would not back down. Bobby had to know the truth.

"She's faking it all because she knows you're with me. So she's trying to get your attention back on her because she wants you for herself! Can't you see it?" she pleaded, trying to open his eyes. If anything, Bobby's face grew darker.

"Where is this coming from? You've never been like this before when Kitty and I were friends. This is ridiculous. Haven't you seen the way she's been avoiding me? She doesn't want me." Once again, what Bobby didn't take into account was that he now made it sound like he wanted to be with Kitty. But he didn't notice, and continued on what he was saying. "Besides, you've never had a problem before, what's wrong with you now?"  
"My _problem_?" She shrieks. "My problem? My _problem _is that my boyfriend is paying more attention to a_ friend _than he is to me_. _My problem is that I just found out in another timeline, my boyfriend was married to his best friend. My prob-" She cut herself off, spotting the audience that was gathering around them.

"I can't believe you." Bobby said in disgust. Is this what Marie has been her entire life? "You're letting your jealousy mar your thoughts. This is Kitty we're talking about. She would never do anything like that." At that note, he turned around leaving a furious girlfriend behind.

_He really should break up with her._

**A/N:**

**I must report that I can not update for a bit after this because school, both Chinese and English, have upped the intensity on homework and work in general. In fact, I should really be doing a Social Studies project right now.**

**So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, a look into Rogue.**


	8. Chapter 8

"So, did you hear?" Elle asked Kitty as they lounged on the bed in Kitty's room. Kitty immediately turned towards her.

"What?" Kitty turned around, interest piqued. Elle wasn't someone who really gossips. She didn't care much for it, so anything she deemed interesting enough to share has to be good.

Then again, she also wasn't big on letting rumors swirl behind someone's back either.

"Well, you might be interested to hear that Bobby and Marie had an argument in plain daylight." Kitty's head snapped up. Oh no. Her mind started whirling. She didn't mean to ruin their relationship. She tried staying away Bobby to prevent this exact thing!

But maybe the argument wasn't about her. Maybe it was about what they were having for lunch or something. Maybe Bobby missed another date. He's done that before, once or twice.

"What were they arguing about?" Elle calmly lifted her deep blue eyes up at Kitty, and Kitty couldn't see through the blank look on Elle's face. She wasn't sure if it was just Elle's normal look or if she was just keeping a neutral face to calm Kitty down.

"Well, it was because Bobby missed a dinner date," Kitty sighed in relief. Good, it wasn't about her.

"-and then she accused him of being distracted by you." Too soon.

Kitty groaned, and plopped her head back onto the her bed. Great. Just great. Fantastic. "If it makes you feel any better, Bobby defended you." Even better.

"No, it doesn't." No. That means Bobby isn't staying away, that means Bobby isn't getting the message. She's staying away for a reason, and he's not seeing it. Maybe the system is just slow. She'll use X-men mail next time instead of Kitty Pryde Express.

Still, Kitty couldn't deny that there was a quick sprig of warmth inside her that she couldn't shoot down. She did try though, oh she tried.

She had to stay away from him. She had to for Marie. It was better for all of them.

(Oh she was always so good at denial.)

* * *

"Kitty's been getting better." Jean noted. "Slowly, but definitely better." They were back in Xavier's office, with a certain Rogue missing. Bobby snorted.

"If you consider just talking to one person with no other difference to her behavior 'improvement' then yes, she is getting better." Scott frowned at Bobby but even he couldn't really deny the facts. Other than talking to Elle, she acted the exact same as before. Less screams, but no less hostile.

"Indeed." Charles Xavier nodded to Bobby. "However, one person will hopefully lead to many more. Besides, she has been notably less... depressed."

"Hopefully she will snap back soon because there has been word of movement within Magneto's little group." Wolverine inserted in. All eyes shifted over him and he shrugged. "What? You all haven't heard yet? There have been several claims over the past few days that mutants have been recruited into his cause. There have been multiple sightings of mutants walking into homes, and several parents have reported that their children have gone missing." Their faces all looked troubled. How could they have missed this? Better question, how did _Wolverine_ out of all people know before them? He's not one of the people who really watches the news.

But he does hear the random tidbits of information on the streets fastest.

"Although I don't believe it's actually Magneto, maybe just some stragglers, leftovers of his group." Wolverine added in, as an afterthought.

"No one tell the kids about this. We can't have them more alarmed than they already are. They believe they are safe here." Charles decided.

"What about Kitty?"Ororo cut in. "Do we tell her?" Everyone paused. This was a hard choice. Kitty was an X men, she deserved to know. Yet, she already has so much on her mind that no one wanted to burden her anymore.

"We should tell her. She'd think the wrong way if we don't." Scott immediately said.

"But this might bring her down even more." Storm argued back. Storm was always very protective of Kitty and along with Wolverine, had became a set of very concerned faux parents to her.

"Yet, Kitty isn't one to shy away from duty. This interaction may be the excuse we need for her to talk to us. If push comes to shove, we'll talk to her about how she has to talk to us, at least during training." Bobby couldn't help but to hope that maybe Scott was right, and Kitty would open up to them. _To him._ His mind added on.

Sometimes he wondered who's side his betraying mind was on, being in the presence of not one, but two powerful telepaths, both liable to read his mind at anytime. He wondered when was the last time he really checked up on his mental barriers and hoped they were still secure.

Jean's wink sent towards him didn't exactly help.

A/N:

Apologies for not updating earlier. I don't want to make it seem like I'm throwing excuse after excuse after you, but this is serious. My grandma died. My mom is heading back over the ocean to stay with her family, and I have never truly realized how much she does. It's a lot. I taken to picking up her duties, and it takes a while.

On that note, I would like to mention something. It appears that many people do not know what they are asking for when they come onto this website. I am well aware Bobby was only with Kitty because Rogue was indisposed. But if you happened to look at the title of this website, you will find that it's called FANFICTION. Not, play by play of reality, not summary, but fanfiction. This is my story and I can make there be unicorns popping out of humans if I want to.


	9. Chapter 9

_Kitty wanted to fight. Kitty wanted to do something, to do anything! _

_She hated how everyone sacrificed everything for her. She hated how she saw hungry eyes watching her eat because she was what kept them alive. She hated having to stay inside while everyone risked their lives for her so she can send someone back and save them all. She hated how she saved them so they could save her. She hated all the sentinels. She hated Mystique, who just had to go kill Trask. She hated how everyone just can't accept them, even after Alcatraz. And more than anything, she hated the Sentinels. _

_She hated Trask, she hated the stupid untrusting humans, she hated Magneto for causing all this fucking trouble and she hated, loathed, disliked with all her heart having to watch Bobby die over and over again. But she couldn't do anything. So for now all she could do was continue watching everyone die, send someone back, repeat the cycle, and hope, pray, that one day, this crazy circle will stop spinnning, and the madness will end._

* * *

Maybe Kitty is hurting Bobby. So maybe she's hurting the team, her team, the X Men by being selfish. Maybe she's going overboard with the visions. After all, they're just that, visions right? Nothing worth missing Danger Room sessions. Maybe, just maybe, she's being selfish.

But, she reasoned, it's not being selfish if she's doing it to protect his relationship with Rogue. That's not really selfish right? To want to protect a friend from a broken heart?

Yet somewhere deep down, she knew she was selfish. Because she wasn't doing this to prevent Bobby and Marie from breaking up. No, she was doing this to save herself from the pain, the pain of seeing Bobby with someone else. Part of her had been happy when she heard that Bobby and Marie fought. Part of her was happy that Bobby had taken her side. Part of her, oh that traitorous side, wanted to go and see Bobby right there and then. Go see him and maybe, just maybe, kiss the heck out of him.

Some of her felt the need to go visit the fountain outside. She didn't know what, as nothing important to her had happened there. But one day, she started to get this unexpected tingly happy feeling every time she passed the fountain. Sometimes, if she squints really hard she can see a boy and a girl, faces blurry, laughing and skating on the fountain. Then she goes to bed and dreams of those two people, so happy together. They're always faceless, maybe a May or a Drew or a Jessie or a Jaden.

And she gets jealous, oh she gets so jealous of those two lucky people. Those lucky people who get to be so happy. Why couldn't she? Why couldn't she have that happiness? Why did Marie have to come right when she and Bobby were actually getting close?

She wondered what was going on, going on with her. Why was she acting this way? So... so... Kitty didn't know how to describe it. What words could describe the way she had been acting? She felt so ashamed. So ashamed of the way she's been acting, snapping at Logan who only meant to help her in his own way, forsaking the duties of the X Men with her own selfish tendencies, betraying her fellow X Men by ignoring them as well when they haven't done anything to her.

If she's avoiding Bobby, she shouldn't ignoring her duties. It was an honor to be chosen to join, and she tosses that privilege back towards Xavier's face, like it was trash. She threw away all of the trust that the X Men placed on her, that Professor X placed onto her. What was wrong with her? What was she thinking? She was wrong, way back then, when she thought she changed. She hasn't. Even now, she still made unnecessary attempts to avoid everything. She had first laughed at Xavier's face when he told her she was a mutant. Even though she had all the evidence from the headaches, even though she could walk through walls, even though she saw all the news.

The news of muties, of freaks, of monsters.

That wasn't going to continue. She was going to be strong, going to be an X Men. She'd be damned if she let herself continue done this path of nonsense just for a boy. No, this was going to stop.

With those matters out of the way, maybe she should go visit the fountain again...

The next day, she showed up at the next Danger Room session.


	10. Chapter 10

She was here.

Bobby Drake glanced across the Danger Room to the brunette whom he still couldn't keep his eyes off of for very long. Not for the first time, he wondered if this was just an illusion, if his eyes were playing a joke on him. Maybe he was just really tired and is seeing things.

Kitty Pryde was here.

He looked away and then back.

Still there.

For the past month Kitty Pryde hadn't showed up to a single one of the Danger Room sessions, yet today she had shown up without any explanation. She had been training with Wolverine when the rest of them walked in, and she spared a nod towards them before imitating whatever move Wolverine was showing her. Bobby had nearly tripped when he had saw her, Scott had raised his eyebrow, Jean had a huge smile on, and Beast started spouting some line from a poem, Shakespeare or Hamlet or something.

Storm had just smiled and called them over, starting the session. Kitty was a bit rusty, that was true, but she was also laughing and smiling and overall, just being the ball of sunshine she was. Even though most of the X men looked relieved, Bobby couldn't help but notice most of it was fake. After all they were best friends. He knew when her laugh was real, and when it was fake.

The biggest surprise though, came when the session was over, and he had exited the locker room. She was there, leaning against the wall, waiting for him. Or maybe she was just leaning there thinking. But it was probably for him because she kicked off the wall and started walking towards Bobby when she saw him.

"Uh, hey." Bobby said, awkwardly. He had dreamed of this chance for ages, but now that the opportunity was actually here, he wasn't quite sure how seize it. Did he tell her about his growing feelings? Did he ask about how she was? Did he tell her everything he's been thinking over the month she had locked herself away? Did he tell how upset and hurt he was after she shut herself away?

"Hey." She simply said, looking at him. They stood there, just staring, tension thickening between them. He didn't know what to do, there had never been an awkward silence between them before, only lighthearted laughter and chatter.

"So, um." He started and nearly cursed himself out. What the heck? "So, um?"Could he not have at least said 'Oh hey, I really missed you, everyone did. It was nice to see you again.' God he was so stupid.

"I'm sorry." His head snapped up, and he stared at her in shock. She took a deep breath, and forged on. "I'm sorry for taking my frustrations onto you and the others. You were only trying to help, and I reacted badly. They're just images, things that have never happened, they shouldn't- they _don't_ change anything. I had no right to react in such a way, and I am so, so, so, so sorry." She said, taking a deep breath after that. Bobby wonders what finally brought this on after so long of the solitude and isolation she had immersed herself in. He decides to just enjoy this moment and not push his luck. Think about it later.

Bobby does nothing, says nothing except reach out and lightly touch her arm. He watches as Kitty closes her eyes and physically relaxes into the touch. Has she even had any physical contact over the past few months?

It was still nice to see he can get that kind of reaction out of her.

Her arm is smooth, and he watches in awe as he slides his arm down until it finally reaches her hand and he quickly grasps it. She looks at up him, shocked but not stopping him, and doesn't react as his other hand reaches up and cups her face.

Maybe it was because both of them were caught up in the moment, or maybe it was desires sparked to life after finally touching, finally standing next to each other and his hand trailing up and down her arm that is doing things to her that she doesn't want to think about, but they kiss.

And it's nice, so very nice, and Bobby can't help but think it was better than the kisses he and Marie have while Kitty goes out on a limb and admits that the actual thing is so much better then what she experiences in the stupid visions.

At the end of the hallway, a girlfriend who had come to apologize to her boyfriend watched the interaction with tears glittering in her eyes.


	11. Chapter 11

As she's walking with Bobby at her side, her eyes are suddenly drawn to that fountain, and she sees those two people, the happy couple, laughing and skating all around. Per usual, she's entranced by them, unable to tear her eyes off the delight flowing out of them, clear in their body language, clear in their faces, clear in their smiles.

Except, this time it's different. Maybe it was because her mind was clearer than it has been in a long time, or because that haze from the visions were gone or just because Bobby was here, but something had changed. This time those faces become clearer, faces smoothing out, and with a jolt Kitty realize it was herself there, laughing and skating in circles, her and Bobby. She watches enraptured as she clumsily skates around in circles with Bobby at her side, noses red, eyes dancing with happiness.

"Kitty?" She blinked, and the images disappear. She's disappointed for a moment before turning back to Bobby. He's looking at her worriedly, and gently nudging. Kitty shakes her head slightly, and he thankfully drops it.

_Across town, Marie has finally reached her location. She looks around quickly to make sure no one was following her or looking at her suspiciously before knocking on the door. _

Kitty smiles with Bobby as she watches the newest student, Clarice Ferguson, peeks at James, smiling shyly before turning away quickly when he notices her. There's a grin spreading across her face, faster than the blush rising up. He smiles as well, and makes sure to catch up with her as she starts to walk inside, books held tightly against her chest.

She recognizes them both from her dreams, though they are currently younger.

_A hand reaches out, and grabs Rogue quickly, almost slamming the door behind them. _

_"Were you followed?" The voice hisses impatiently._

Kitty and Bobby will call you crazy if you ever mention this, but they immediately start placing bets on the two. Kitty bets ten that they'll be together by at least next month, with all the friendship steps that they would both take. James was a chivalrous person. Bobby thinks they'll be kissing by next week.

Blink and Warpath were a great duo, and they often took surveillance duty.

_"No. I double checked." Rogue said back, her southern accent showing. "We're all good sugar, don't worry. Our secret is safe."_

They watch with wistful looks as Jean smiles while she and Scott walk among the gardens, hand in hand. Jean actually giggles as Scott lovingly places a kiss on the top of her head.

Jean and Scott were one of the firsts to go down, one of the firsts captured and sent to be killed immediately, both deemed too powerful to keep alive.

_"Well then, come along," She smiles at Rogue. "We've been waiting for you."_

Kitty waves happily at Ororo as she waters her plants carefully, and Ororo smiles back and-

A lifeless Storm was thrown off the the Sentinal's blade, attacked from the back.

_Rogue raises an eyebrow. "Oh really? Because last I checked, My answer was a solid maybe, inches towards no."_

They say a polite hello to Piotr as he silently sketches out an image of the children laughing in front of the giant tree that Kitty used to visit everyday. The dreams have stopped coming as much, and she suspects that the grand finale is about to happen soon.

Kitty sees in her mind his metal body being ripped in half by sentinels.

_"Oh, we knew you were going to see things our way soon." Rogue didn't look convinced. "Okay, some of us didn't think you would actually come. But you're here now, and that's all that matters. You chose wisely."_

Bobby, not her Bobby, the Da Costa boy, runs past her, laughing and flaming.

He gets cooled down many times by sentinels.

_"I'm sure I did." Rogue watches with satisfaction as the members of the house recoil slightly she smiles at them, a wolfish glint in her eyes._

Wolverine nods at them as they pass him walking with the Professor.

Kitty gets a flash of his unmoving body, eyes tightening as Kitty pushes more power into the connection stabilizing him.

_"Have your powers resurfaced?" Rogue nods. "Good. Has anyone found out?"_

Jubilee runs up to greet them, laughing happily before bouncing off somewhere else again. Never could stand still, that Jubilee. Always happy, always cheerful, always up to something.

Kitty shakes off the image of her dead body laying on top of Angel's.

_Rogue shakes her head. "The charm you gave me covered it up. Besides," A hint of bitterness enter her voice. "The few people who usually would notice are to preoccupied on other things. Actually, everyone's too busy being preoccupied by Kitty to notice."_

Pietro is running around everywhere, still keeping a careful eye on his younger sister Lorna as she talks boldly with Scott's older brother, Alex Summers. They seem to be having fun, Lorna is laughing with her head tilted back, mouth open and green hair tumbling down. There is a carefree look, and for a moment Kitty sees her dead body, sliding lifelessly of a Sentinel's arm.

_The woman nods in satisfaction. "Good, we have to move quickly. When the government catches wind that the cure doesn't work, when the X Men find out, the first people they're going to come for is us. We have to delay this as much as possible as we recover and regroup. At least there's one good thing about that girl," Rogue is satisfied to hear the note of distaste in her voice,"throwing that temper tantrum of hers."_

So many die in that future.

_They had finally reached their destination and the woman slowly slips behind the man sitting on the chair in front of Rogue._

They go their separate directions at the basketball court, Bobby going to join his friends, and Kitty going to join Elle, who is meditating by herself in a small grassy area.

_"Hello my dear." Magneto says, smiling pleasantly at her. _


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey, where were you? I was getting worried." Bobby asked the minute Rogue entered the room.

_'Worried about how Kitty would stop shoving her tongue down your throat if she saw me.' _Rogue wanted to respond. Instead, she smiled falsely and responded," I just wanted to take a walk. What you said really stuck to me. You were right, Kitty would never do such a thing." _Except when I found her kissing you this morning. _"I'm so sorry."

Bobby sighed and got up, nervously running his hands through his hair. "Yeah, about that." Rogue raised her eyebrows. Was he actually going to tell her the truth? Warm feelings slowly bubbled up inside of her. Bobby wouldn't cheat on her and not feel guilty about it, it just wasn't Bobby. Maybe, if he told her and promised to stay away from that pretty little whore, Rogue could consider forgiving him.

"Yeah, um, well," Bobby seemed to hesitate before shaking his head. Rogue's anger flared up, chasing away all former fuzzy feelings. He changed his mind. "I'm really sorry too. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."

"Yeah. Okay." She says shortly, before grabbing some clothes. "I'm tired. I'm going to take a short shower and head to bed."

In bed, she makes sure to sleep as far away from Bobby as possible. Rogue was done with him.

The next morning, when they woke up, Rogue delayed as much as possible. She claimed she was taking another shower, she was blow drying her hair, she was brushing her hair, she was brushing her teeth, until Bobby finally left without her. Rolling her eyes, she finished pulling her shirt on and slipped out of her room, calmly walking by Clarice and James smiling at each other in the corner.

She tells Charles she's going out to the town- not a lie- and heads back to their headquarters.

* * *

_"I love you." She blurts out to Bobby and immediately flushes when he looks up at her in surprise. He opens his mouth but she hurriedly cuts him off. "I have for years now. I know you're still not over Rogue and I know you only think me a friend but I just think you should at least know." Then she turns and runs leaving a stunned Bobby behind._

_The next few days she takes care to avoid him as much as possible, taking as many shifts with Elle as possible, arranging her schedule away from Bobby. Kitty can't see how she could possibly face him after this._

_The rest of the mutants that were part of their ragtag team eventually caught on. They were polite enough to not mention anything, but sent confused looks at each other when they thought the two weren't looking. _

_Bobby sought her out first, and Kitty only narrowly avoided confrontation._

_The second time, Bobby trapped her feet in ice. Kitty phased out and ran._

_By now, Bobby was slowly losing his patience and everyone held their breath out for the big blowout._

_The third time, he convinced Elle to help him, and when she was talking to Elle, he snuck up on her, roughly spun her around, and crashed his lips onto hers. Elle shooed everyone out, before slipping out herself, leaving them alone. He pulls away and moves onto her neck before she could slip away. He's been waiting too long for this, and she's been teasing him for too long._

_Kitty finally regains her senses and stumbles away, seeking for something to keep her steady. She breaths in, then out, then in, then out, until finally her erratic breathing slowed down and she could think again. _

_"What was that?" She sputters, glaring at him. He smiles, a beautiful Bobby smile, and walks closer, hand cupping her face._

_"You never gave me the chance to answer." He tilts her head up to look at him._

_"I love you too." And then their lips meet and all was right for a few seconds._

* * *

Kitty jolts awake, breathing hard. Her hand slowly raises up and brushes across her lips, swearing that she could still feel Bobby's lips gently pressing up against hers.

She shakes her head, still feeling muddled. No, that was in the vision, not in her reality. Kitty lets herself fall back onto her bed, loneliness and want sweeping across her again. She thought it had gotten better, that they had stopped.

Tears slowly rolled down her face as she finally remembered, Bobby was with Marie. She had let herself go for a precious few hours but now she had to reign herself in. Bobby was not hers, and Bobby would never be hers. He was happy with Marie, and Marie was happy with him.

What a mess.

She rolled over and sighed.

It was going to be a long night.


	13. Chapter 13

Don't own.

* * *

Kitty sometimes wonders, really wonders, _why her? _Why was she the one who got the visions, why was she the one who had to deal with watching the one she possibly loved (She says possibly now, because she couldn't tell if it's only dreams feeding and sparking up an old crush) gallivanting everywhere with his own girl, who was much more beautiful than Kitty could ever hope to be, could ever imagine to be, could ever dream to be, could ever be.

Girls like Kitty were defined as cute and adorable by boys. Girls like Marie were defined as hot.

Girls like Kitty didn't get the boy. Girls like Marie did.

Girls like Kitty don't get crushed on. Girls like Marie had a crowd of admirers.

Girls like Kitty had to go after the boy. Girls like Marie had to fight off crowds with a metal bat.

Girls like Kitty were friendzoned and set to the side. Girls like Marie were salivated after, every step took was like a walk on the runway.

Why did Bobby go after her? Marie definitely had it better when it came to her assets and...

What was she thinking? She knows Bobby really wasn't that shallow, he didn't only date someone because of their looks. He dated them for their personality, the beauty and looks were just an added bonus.

Rogue was nice too, she admitted to herself reluctantly. Reclusive but nice.

He really was a nice person, and had such a kind soul. On her first day here, it had been him who approached her and made her feel welcome to the mansion. He had introduced her to his group of friends, and group she was still close friends with now.

Well, recently actually. She wasn't so sure about now.

* * *

"What's the news?" The ever so smooth voice of Mystique greeted her, skipping polite greetings as per usual. Rogue had been offended at first, but now she was used to it.

"Your device works. I've managed to successfully hack into the school's system and keep the news of your regathering away from the X Men so far. They haven't found out, yet."

"Is there any chance of one of the X Men there would notice?" Mystique asked, a slow smile curling up on her lips. Of course she already knows the answer, she just wants confirmation. Rogue shakes her head.

"Beast is currently busy at Washington for several meetings, he probably won't be back for another month or so. The other person who would notice is a bit preoccupied and doing a fine job of keeping everyone else's attention away too." Mystique threw her head back and laughed.

"Pathetic thing, is she not? Running away from her duties because of one thing or the other, crying over useless things, throwing temper tantrums of the century. They put that in the X Men? Charles is really losing his touch."

Rogue couldn't deny that she felt a small thrill, knowing that another person saw through the homewrecker's bullshit.

"Has Kitty done anything to be wary of?" The third and final voice cut in, and Rogue turned to see their leader walking towards them. "You mustn't underestimate her, even if she is a little dramatic."

Rogue thought carefully. "Other than smiling a little more and that one time where she ventured out to see Bobby, there really is nothing new going on." Magneto raised his eyebrows and Rogue hastily added,"Don't worry, I got this."

* * *

"Half-pint." Kitty turned from the computer sitting in front from her, fingers still typing even as she looks away.

"Yeah Logan?" She smiled, staring at her mentor, the one who she had been recently mending her relationship with. "I figured, with Hank not here and me...being otherwise occupied, the security systems haven't really paid attention to or updated in a while. I was right, they're definitely lagging." Logan nodded, sitting down next to the ghostlike mutant and making himself comfortable. The security has taken a backseat in their minds when Kitty had moved from shotgun to driving, and then crashing.

"Hey that's weird... even with the systems not being checked up upon, they still shouldn't be behind this much. There's something wrong." She frowned and leaned forward. "There's like... a block on the system and it's slowing the entire thing down." Logan was glad Kitty kept the big words down to something he could understand.

"What's it do? What's it blocking?" He asked curiously, bracing himself for everything from the security breaches to Cerebro itself being hacked.

"It's blocking... the news?" Wolverine frowned. The news? Why would anyone block the news?

"Go see if you can get rid of this block and try to retrieve what's been restricted." He growled out, shifting forward as well. Kitty's eyes furrowed in concentration as she broke through the multiple obstacles and Wolverine waited with impatience. Two things happened at once. Kitty fell back against her chair, whooping and fist-pumping the air as multiple websites started popping up, one after another.

_Child Missing, Parents Worried_

_Another Mutant Pops Up_

_Mutant Cure Not Permanent _

Wolverine sat back in horror as he read the multiple titles and subtitles that keep coming up. Missing kids? Mutants? The cure not permane- He jumped up. "Marie!" An even more worrying thought came to mind. "Magneto! We have to warn Chuck!" His eyes furrows when he sees Kitty still in her chair, fingers racing. "What are you doing? Let's go!"

"One second! I gotta see who restricted these in the worst place!" He growled, pacing anxiously as he glared.

Kitty's fingers were flying and then... _no_. It couldn't be possible. She stopped, staring at the computer in horror.

"I can't believe this." Logan looked at her in worry.

"What is it, darlin'?" He asked, carefully, afraid that something had triggered her to go back to that _sadmopeycryingdistantupset_ Kitty.

She hesitated. "The one who did this... it was _Rogue_."


	14. Chapter 14

"There have been a flood of complaints coming in the past few days from multiple kids on how slow the computers have working, how websites would randomly crash. I'd always remind myself to mention that, but I'd always forgot to... I can't believe we never noticed!" Bobby cried, pacing back and forth anxiously. The group was in Charles's office again, this time with Kitty and without Rogue.

"I have a better question, how come we never notice those mutants that have been popping up? Now that I think about it, there is this period where we haven't gotten new mutants after Ellen... you think she's part of this too?" Scott spoke up from his place next to Jean's side.

"No!" Kitty burst out. "Elle would never do that! I just know it." Scott opened his mouth to argue but Wolverine cut him off. "Answer the first question kid," he murmured, placing a hand on her shoulders. She straightened up, displeasure still clear on her face, but willing to compromise for the greater good. She'll talk about this with Scott later.

"It turns out anything having to do with Magneto's cause has been blocked, hacked. And that includes Cerebro, one of the biggest factors that interrupt his recruiting cause. Now that I've broken the seal, Cerebro should be working again. We had always thought there was a spy, I guess we know now that it's Rogue. I just want to know how she covered up her mutation appearing again."

"Oh that's not hard." Xavier spoke up. "She could be going off and getting the cure on a daily basis. She is the one who buys the groceries."

"You know," Bobby said thoughtfully,"Now that I think about it, Marie has been disappearing lately. I guess I got so caught up with-" He flushed, before quickly changing his words, not looking at Kitty. "I mean, I got so caught in the alternate universe thing I never really thought about where she could be. I always thought she was out grocery shopping even though she sometimes came back too late to be doing so..." Bobby looked troubled.

"I think," Scott said carefully,"that she was counting on our distraction to keep our attention away from her."

"Would've worked too, if it hadn't been for our resident Kitten." Orora said, smiling at Kitty proudly.

"Charles, how about you check up Cerebro again. I want to know if there are any mutants needing our help. Maybe Magneto is out recruiting mutants to his evil cause right at this moment." Jean says, worry creasing her face.

They nod, and head down to the Cerebro chamber, waiting impatiently as Charles searches.

"Well X Men, it appears that Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil just happens to be out right now, near a mutant. Cyclops, prepare the Blackbird."

* * *

The minute that Rogue stepped into headquarters, she knew something had went wrong. The normally arrogant smirk on Mystique's face was gone. Pyro storms passed them, eyes furious. And Magneto, he looks calm as ever. But there's this aura around him that she's come across a few times. He was angered. Rogue knew if he was like this, she should stay quiet. Magneto will speak up when he wants to.

Minutes ticked by, and Rogue was started to get antsy. Too long, and the X Men will start suspecting something. And they've worked too hard to let that happen. Far too hard.

Ten more minutes, she decided. Ten more minutes. Then she will leave, and go back to being that pathetic, meek, and mild girl. Her lips curled in disgust as she thought of who she had been. She never had realized how strong she could have been until her mother finally found her, finally helped her reach out towards her full potential. Potential that the Professor _hid._

She didn't need Bobby, but she still kept him around so they can keep up the act.

Or at least that's what she told herself.

"They're starting to suspect too much." Magneto finally said, quietly. "They just foiled a recruiting. This is not a coincidence. It's to get them distracted again."

"How would you recommend I do that?" Marie asked, patiently waiting. But she could feel an excited tingle running through her body. Rogue had a feeling she knew what kind of distraction Magneto was speaking of.

"Perhaps it is time to initiate Operation Guo Nuwang?" She offered, barely able to hide her glee.

He observed the glass vial, rolling between his fingers.

"You know what to do."

Rogue finally smiles as she takes the small vial from him.

"A drop will suffice."

What fun would that be?

A/N: Guo Nuwang had been notorious in Chinese history as a concubine of Cao Pi, and manipulating him into forcing his then wife, Zhen Ji, into committing suicide. She planted seeds of suspicion into their marriage by claiming that their son was a result of Zhen's previous marriage. In a way, Rogue was making Kitty out to be Guo Nuwang, and herself as Zhen Ji.

There's a whole complicated history with that, it's really cool. You should definitely look them up if you have the time.


	15. Chapter 15

Kitty watched as the tables were gradually turned on her. Where as it used to be her ignoring Bobby, now Bobby was ignoring her. It really didn't take a genius to figure out why, he thought what happened with Rogue was his fault. He thought Rogue turned because he had been ignoring her, because he was spending too much time with Kitty. She just didn't like it, even though she had done the same thing,

She never said she wasn't selfish.

And now, she was in front of his door, ready to do what he tried doing the past month or so with her. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Kitty took a deep breath and raised her raised to knock on his door.

"Bobby?" No response. She rolled her eyes. "Bobby, I know you're in there. Open the door while I'm asking politely. You know I can and will enter this room with or without your permission. I'd just rather have your approval." Kitty was fully prepared to phase into his room without a second care in the world as to personal privacy. And if he was naked, well she did give him a warning.

Still no answer.

Well, she did try to do this nicely.

"Alright Bobby, I'm coming in. You have twenty seconds to put on a shirt."

_One, two, skip-a-few, nineteen, twenty._

She casually slid into the room and was pinned with an icy cold glare. She shrugged it off. He did have the decency to put on a shirt, although Kitty most certainly wouldn't have minded if he hadn'-

_Bad Kitty, Bobby is strictly no touchy. _

"Lovely day outside," she chirped, ignoring that it was currently muddy and rainy outside. "Just a really great day to bond and get to know the team, don't you think?" Kitty ignored the glare that was intensifying. Bobby was too much of a gentlemen to be rude for too long of a time.

He'll start talking in _three.. two... one..._

"Why are you here?"

Bingo! Was she good or what?

"Would you believe me if I say your room has the best?" He raised his eyebrows.

"No, Ororo's does. Besides, it's raining outside." He was still glaring at her, but it was definitely less intense. Kitty ignored the subtle _get out_ message hidden within.

"Oh we're talking about _that _view."

His lips thinned.

"Yeah, I'm not talking about that kind of view," she said as she _not so subtly_ dragged her eyes up and down his body, smiling innocently when he caught her eyes.

That's right, keep it light, get him off his guard.

"Ha."

Well at least he's too courteous and polite to tell her outright that he wants her to leave.

"So, here's what the gang's thinkin-"

"Just cut to the chase already and then get out." Or maybe not.

"Gee Bobby, someone's touchy today. Someone melt your popsicle?" His frosty gaze didn't waver and she sighed.

"Alright fine. I'll say it. You've been ignoring us and-"

"You'd know all about ignoring people, wouldn't you?" Kitty recoiled back, flinching.

"Hey, th- that's not fair-"

"You're one to talk about fair. Was it fair that I got shoved aside and ignored?" He got off his bed and started advancing onto her. "Was it fair that I was treated like dirt for trying to help? Was it fair that I was suddenly rejected by someone who I thought was supposed to be my best friend?"

Kitty felt herself tear up. He was right. She was being selfish.

"That's not what you're so angry about right now." She said, trying to prevent her voice from wavering.

"No. It's now. But since you're here, we might as well talk about how I felt- or did you forget the rest of us had feelings too?"

"That's different. You're blaming me for something that you can fix, and only distantly relates to you." Her voice shook. "How about you try having fainting spells because you had to be the one to send everyone back. How about you realize when you wake up that it was all fake, that the one you had feelings for was with someone else in reality? How about you dread and look forward to something at the same damn time because you _don't want to know_, but at the same time you _do want to know_?" She shook her head, tears flowing freely now.

"You know what? Fuck you Bobby Drake." She turned tail and fled, leaving Bobby standing there. Kitty stumbled into the kitchen, barely able to see.

"Hey Kitty." Rogue smiled at her. Kitty sobbed, reaching out to her.

"Rogue..." She choked out.

If this was some other time, she would have noticed the malevolent edge in Rogue's smile. She would have wondered how she got past Kitty's security systems that Kitty personally keyed to alert them if Rogue came back.

"Shhh... here take a sip of water... yes like that...now you hold that, I'll go get the Professor."

If this was some other time she would have been more careful. She would have remembered Rogue wasn't someone that was to be trusted.

She would have remembered fucking Snow White.

But it wasn't another time.

_Glass shattered on the ground._


	16. Chapter 16

Wolverine didn't realize what was wrong at first. It felt like a normal day, and t

When he heard glass shatter, he rolled his eyes affectionately and wondered who was causing trouble again. That generally tends to be a the reaction when he's been living with a hoard of teenage, hormonal children.

Whistling slightly, he let the sound of heartbeats wash over him, each to their own beat.

Wait.

Wait.

_Wait._

_One was missing._

Well actually more were missing but they were either on scouting missions or taking "secret" joyrides with the cars in the garage (he hopes they take Scott's car).

He'd like to think they were just on their scouting missions. It's good for training, and the kids these days really need that.

He hummed. Maybe he'll get the professor to look into lasers as a security measure.

But one important heartbeat was missing. One that hasn't left the mansion in ages.

Bobby, Ororo, Charles, Scott, Jean...

_He couldn't hear Kitty's heartbeat_.

Logan started running into the mansion, screaming for the Professor and Jean in his mind.

Wait... she's still in the mansion.

How can he smell her, but not hear her heartbeat?

She can't be...

He followed his nose to Kitty, lying in glass and water, bleeding where the glass pierced her skin. He took in a sharp breath, and his eyes widened when he smelled another familiar scent, one he hadn't smelled in a while.

Rogue.

* * *

"Bobby?" He rolled his eyes and turned over. So Kitty ran and snitched on him.

"Go away Ororo. I'm not apologizing for what I said to her."

Ororo's voice grew steely.

"Bobby, I had hoped by now you would've realized that the world does not revolve around you. Stop it with this childish temper tantrum and let's_ go_." At those last words, the door blew down.

Bobby stared at the shatter remains of what had been a great door.

"Oh, the Professor is not going to be happy with that. You're paying for the repairs. I'm definitely not taking the fall for _that. _The professor wouldn't believe me either way."

Storm rolled her eyes, moving briskly around his room.

"Come on, let's go, you're not planning to stay in bed all day, are you?"

She started to drag Bobby out of bed, extremely strong for someone he's never seen lift weights at all.

"Why?"

Grudgingly, he started to pull himself off the bed too.

"It's Kitty."

He paused, before turning around, annoyed.

"I told you. I'm not saying sorr-"

Storm snapped.

"She's been poisoned. By your _girlfriend._ Rogue. Marie. Whatever she's called now. So please, _stop it with the pity party." _

Bobby's heart dropped.

"She came? She was here? Is she here anymore? Where was she-" He faltered when the second half of what Ororo said registered into his brain.

_Poisoned? By Rogue?_

"I-I-Is Kitty Okay? Do you know what happened to her? How did it happened?" Storm shook her head, whirling around and walking out. Bobby hurried after her, nearly tripping in his haste.

"Let's go, She's in the medbay. We've managed to get her heart beating again, it's weak but it's there. Jean and the Professor are trying to neutralize the poison, but it's a a lethal one, not to mention fast-moving. The drink was loaded up with the poison, as much as possible with making it blatantly obvious it was poisoned. Rogue wasn't taking any chances." Storm suddenly sends him a dark glare. "I doubt Kitty would have noticed either way, Kitten was so distraught that she was willing to trust Rogue, didn't even recognize it _was _Rogue."

Bobby flushed slightly, but persisted.

"How did Rogue get in? When did you find Kitty? Was Marie still here?" Bobby tried to ignore the heavy feeling of guilt, resting upon his shoulders, sinking down to his gut.

"We still haven't figured out how she got in, Kitty's security programs never caught her. Elle's currently working on that." Storm seemed a little less angry.

"Bet she's not happy about that." Bobby didn't know the pink haired girl all that well, but he definitely knew she was close with Kitty. He's surprised she left her side.

He knew he wouldn't have been able to.

"Not really. I think she was happy to be able to occupy herself and not have to look at Kitty in the state she's in. Poor girl was besides herself when she came down and saw Kitty," Ororo said sympathetically, "Wolverine discovered Kitty and alerted us of it afterwards. Rogue wasn't there anymore, and he's currently out looking for her."

They turned the corner, and Bobby felt his heart pounding as they walked closer. What will they see? Bobby didn't think he was ready.

He took a deep breath, and slowly pushed open the door.

He nearly left.

She was so pale, inhumanly pale, paler then he would like her to be. She didn't even look like she was sleeping. She looked _dead._

"How is it?" He whispered, not wanting to somehow disturb Kitty.

"Badly, we don't even know what this poison is yet. We've never come across anything like this before. The professor is trying to get information, Jean's just trying to slow down the poison until we can heal her," Scott answered, "Ororo, come with me so we can help Wolverine search for Rogue. Maybe she'll know what poison it is, or at least something that could help.

Scott turned and looked at Bobby.

"Hey, you can stay for a while, just don't bother or get in the way of Jean."

Then Ororo and Scott left, and Bobby was alone with Kitty.

Well as alone as he could get.

Jean was still playing doctor, and he's pretty sure the Professor was only in the lab looking for answers. But he'll take what he can get.

"Hey," he whispered softly as he approached her, "I, uh, I kind of wanted to say, you know, I'm sorry. I was really didn't mean what I said... or maybe I did a little, but it wasn't fair to take it out on you. A-And I was a little harsh and yeah. Um. Get better soon."

He leaned down and carefully kissed her forehead.

But this wasn't a fucking fairytale, and kissing Kitty wasn't going to do shit.


	17. Chapter 17

_"Elle, do you think... do you think maybe one day, mutants could one day live in peace?" Kitty asks, in one of the rare few peaceful moments they have. It's night time, and the others are trying to fit in as much sleep as possible._

_Elle doesn't pause to think, just bitterly shakes her head._

_"No." _

_Kitty sighs. She wishes she could be optimistic about the future, but they can't reason with sentinels. Still, she tries to find hope._

_"The Holocaust-"_

_"The Holocaust had people who were willing to stand up to it. The Holocaust had people who didn't support it. The Holocaust was run by humans, not monsters." Lightning finally shifts to look at her. "Kitty, I want to believe that we can survive every bit as much as you do... but face it. We're going to die. Mutants have no chance of survival, we're all going to die." _

_Kitty was taken aback by the normally controlled girl's outburst._

_She didn't blame her though, things here truly were hopeless._

_They stood in silence while Elle took deep breaths._

_"Kitty," She finally says again, not looking at her, "Sentinels are catching up to us. We used to have weeks, months even before they caught us. Now we barely have days, soon we'll only have hours, and then minutes, then seconds, and then we'll die. That's our reality, we have no more ways of adapting." She pauses._

_"I.. just just want to say-" She jumped, her eyes widening. "Kitty, they're coming! The sentinels are here! Go and wake everyone up! Hurry!_"

She never got to know what Elle had to say.

When she asks the girl in her time later, she just smiles and shakes her head. This Elle didn't know what she had to say either.

_"Bobby... is there any hope left?" She asks quietly._

_He turns to look at her._

_"No. But we have to pretend there is."_

_She wraps her arms around him._

_"I wish I found you earlier," He says wistfully, "I wish we could have more time."_

She did too. Now, they didn't have time.

_"It's the Professor!' She screams. "The Professor's here! Xavier! Xavier! He made contact with me, they're outside!" Bobby and Piotr leap up, rushing for the outdoors, and there. _

_There it is. _

_The Blackbird in all of it's glory (Or maybe not, the painting is chipped and scratched, but Kitty's never seen a more beautiful sight). They rush forward, as entrance opens, and Storm, Xavier, and Wolverine made their way down. _

_'Don't panic.' They suddenly hear in their minds. 'He is on our side. Do not worry.'_

_She wonders what he's talking about._

_Then the final person in their party walks down._

_Magneto._

_The younger mutants still get tense, but that's nothing compared to the ones who have faced Magneto, saw what he would and could do first-hand, not on a television screen._

_Kitty thinks Bobby might try and kill him. She rests her hand on his shoulders, and squeezes. If that didn't spread the message, she pulls him back and shakes her head.  
_

_Ten years ago, she wouldn't have stopped him. Heck, ten years ago she would've tried to join in herself._

_But ten years ago, they weren't faced with the possibility of an apocalypse. Ten years ago, there was enough of them to fight each other without a huge blow done to their numbers. Ten years ago, they weren't at the brink of extinction. Ten years ago, they were young, they were happy, they were naive, and they were innocent._

_Now, everything's changed. _

_Now, if they want to survive, they must forget about friend or foe. Now, if they want to live, they have to forget about fights. Now, if they don't unite, they die._

_Well, they die either way. But it gives them a margin of a chance to survive, and a slim margin is better than nothing in this world._

_"Hi," She says, offering him a slight smile. "Welcome to our crew. I'm Kitty."_

_After the initial shock, he doesn't turn out to be such a bad person._

Why can't things still be the same?

_"Jaire?" Rick offers. Elle rolls her eyes._

_"That's a horrible name."_

_"You got anything better?" He challenged._

_"...no"_

_"So don't make jabs at mine."  
_

_"Just because I don't have anything better doesn't mean I can't make fun of how ridiculous the ship names you create are."_

_"Why does our "ship name" matter?" James asks, holding a blushing Claire._

_"You'll end up like the Titanic without a good ship name."_

_"Yeah, how else will we depart safely from Port Just Friends?"_

_Kitty smiles at Bobby._

Young love.

_"I'm serious, it's definitely happening!" Bobby insists._

_"No way, she says shaking her head as they round the corner. "No wa-"_

_Bobby grinned smugly as she slowly backed away from the sight of Wolverine and Storm making out against the wall._

On second thought, love isn't just for the young.

And Kitty sank down even deeper.


End file.
